A quantitative electron microscopic (E/M) study of the changes in microtubule arrays and wall microfibril orientation has been done on in vitro grown cotton fibers. Microtubules change orientation during cotton fiber development. During fiber initiation and early elongation, microtubules have a generally random orientation. Microtubules re-orient into shallow pitched helices as elongation and primary wall deposition continue, and into steeply pitched helices during secondary wall deposition. Accompanying the changes in orientation are increases in microtubule length, number, proximity to the plasmalemma and a decreased variability in orientation of the microtubules. Based on these observations, three pivotal stages in microtubule patterns were identified during fiber development: (1) the transition between fiber initiation and elongation, where microtubules develop a shallow pitched helical orientation; (2) the transition between primary and secondary wall synthesis, where microtubules abruptly shift orientation to a steeply pitched helical pattern; and (3) early in secondary wall synthesis, where there is a four fold increase in microtubule number. Microfibrils exhibit changes in orientation similar to the microtubules; however significant differences were found when the precise orientations of microtubules and microfibrils were compared. During secondary wall synthesis, wall microfibrils exhibit some variability in orientation due to inter-fibril bundling, thus indicating that components of the wall may also influence final microfibril orientation.
Is size an issue of time? Relationship between the duration of xylem development and cell traits
